I'm not familiar with Silverhawks, other than their VDH hull is very similar to Seacraft and they have a good rep. A 1970s seacraft will ride fabulous, much much better than the whaler. Performance will be as least as good as the Silver, maybe better. Reliability will be the issue. 1970s Seacrafts are likely to have wet transoms and some soft decks. Most good ones will have had these things replaced already. Don't know what Silver made their transoms out of, but a 96 is approaching 20 years old and plywood would be suspect. Engine and mechanicals are anybody's guess, depends on how old and how well maintained.
Boils down to the condition of the individual boat. You can get lots of advice here on what to look for.
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